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How much do you really know about cerebral palsy? Here are 25 interesting facts about cerebral palsy:
Is a group of neurological disorders that affects body movement and muscle coordination.
Is caused by damage to the brain which controls movement and balance
Affects the motor area of the brain that directs muscle movement.
The symptoms of cerebral palsy differ in type and severity in each person.
Is the leading cause of childhood disabilities.
Cerebral Palsy is not progressive meaning it does not get worse overtime.
Cerebral Palsy prevalence is 3.3 children per 1000.
There is no cure for cerebral palsy
Cerebral Palsy is not contagious
Risk factors for cerebral palsy include pre-mature birth, infections during pregnancy, exposure to toxic substances and mothers with excess protein in the urine or a history of having seizures.
Cerebral Palsy can also be caused by complicated labor and delivery due to disruption of blood and oxygen to the brain(hypoxia) and babies in a breech position (feet first).Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type affecting 80% of people with cerebral palsy.
Ataxic cerebral palsy affects balance and depth perception
There are more boys born with cerebral palsy than girls.
Stroke in a baby or child less than the age of 3 results in cerebral palsy.
One in nine with cerebral palsy have features of autism
One in three children with cerebral palsy cannot walk
One in four children with cerebral palsy cannot feed themselves
There are 17 million people with cerebral palsy worldwide.
58.2% of children with cerebral palsy can walk independently, 11.3 walk using a hand-held mobility device and 30.6% have limited or no walking ability
Speech and language disorders are common in people with cerebral palsy
Pain is common among children with cerebral palsy
Harry Jennings, an engineer built the first modern folding wheelchair
Sir William Osler wrote the first book on cerebral palsy
Dr. Sigmund Freud was the first to state that cerebral palsy might be caused by abnormal development before birth.
Cerebral palsy doesn’t necessary mean learning difficulties.
References
Thanks for this <a href="http://www.trishlafoundation.com/cerebral-palsy/cerebral-palsy-treatment/"Cerebral Palsy info.
Thank you for blogging these facts. So many don’t realize that there is no cure for Cerebral Palsy. Will be sharing.
Thanks Jeremy, I am hoping the information is helpful to others.